When I was a growing up, my family would take these epic 2-3 week long family vacations to upstate New York. This was my gramma’s home town area and for 3 days as we drove up from Florida, we’d think of all the family we would see and all the amazing foods we would eat. We’d go to my Uncle Ed’s house which was directly across the street from the Nestle’s chocolate factory. There is something magical about a place that smells like rich chocolate, and that’s exactly what Uncle Ed’s place smelled like (He always had some crunch bars on hand to give me). We’d visit my Aunt Muriel and Uncle Red who were farmers and we’d eat fresh corn on the cob till we were doubled over full. We’d take my hilarious Aunt Helen to lunch and we’d dream of ways to make her laugh – if you could get Aunt Helen laughing (which wasn’t really that hard to to do) then you knew life was worth living.
The other place that we would get excited about visiting was Lake Ontario. We’d drive around the lake, or the Loop, and visit the old Fort – where’d we watch re-enactors dress in Union costumes and fire blanks from the cannons. Eventually our drive would end up at this little dive called Rudy’s. It was a place that served fresh fish sandwiches that were just amazing. We’d order our fish sandwiches and a “pop” and wait for our number to be called. We’d try to find a seat outside where we could feel the breeze coming off the lake. Then it was time to eat our fish and chips while shooing away the pelicans and “sea rats” that flew overhead. Then after gorging ourselves once again, it was time to explore. We’d walk down to the lake, which someone always managed to “fall in”, and we’d hunt rocks.
Now that may sound like a pretty dumb thing to do, but there’s something really different about Lake Ontario rocks. In Florida, we didn’t have rocks like these – in fact after living in FL, TN, KY and AL, I can honestly say, I’ve never seen rocks like those at Lake Ontario. These rocks are smooth as silk and are the best skipping stones on the planet. They have this deep color that always made me feel that they were older than even our earth – like God took a dump truck and dropped off all these stones from somewhere else before he created this place. These rocks became a symbol of our visits and while we took the 3-day drive back to Florida, we’d all have a rock or two nearby that we’d taken with us.
I would later be told that pressure and time and water had rounded out those rocks and that they weren’t the product of some mystical land far from the life I knew. They weren’t rocks from Narnia, or space rocks from a “galaxy far far away”, nor was that little one I could carry in my pocket, the actual rock that David used to kill Goliath. These were ordinary rocks, in a very large (and very cold) lake that had washed up to shore over years and years of tossing and turning under the movements of the water. The rocks had been worn down and rounded out and I was the lucky finder – the rock hound who would give it some kind of identity and life.
That process of rounding off edges of rocks takes a long time but I’ve found it also takes a long time for us humans as well. As I look at where I am today, I’m thankful for the rounding that I’ve been able to experience. It’s kinda of funny to say that, because when I was getting bashed up against others I sure didn’t’ like it then. Even today, when I find myself in the midst of a consistent wave pounding, I quickly want to cry out to God to “make the madness stop.” But, I also know that this pounding, this sometimes gentle and sometimes not so gentle process will produce in me a vessel that is truly one of a kind. A very often used verse of scripture says that “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” I believe what the Psalmist was trying to say was that as we are becoming the better stronger versions of ourselves – the true You that God has created you for – we often find that we only get that way by entering into sharpening, or rounding, experiences. It’s part of the process and it produces the best materials.
I’ve found that when I’m being rounded and sharpened, I generally have a hard time hearing God’s subtle and gentle assurances that the process is not just something that will end up being good for me, but that I can actually find a way to enjoy it, if I’ll let it. It’s one thing to remember that this process is helping me becoming the best me that God created me for, it another to be thankful in mid wave crash. When the waves are pounding and the iron is being forged, it get’s loud in my head and heart and if I’m not careful that loudness sends me spiraling in to chaos. But when I stop, and I mean literally stop the routine of craziness for just a minute, then I find that though the rounding is difficult I know it’s producing something amazing. For me, sometimes this quiet comes when my dog Max is having an allergic reaction and won’t’ let me sleep – ironic isn’t it, rather than sleeping, I’m awake and finding rest. 
I hope that we’ll be able to be iron for each other and I pray that as you find yourself tossed and turned by life’s rolling seas, that you’ll know that you are being formed into a priceless, one of a kind masterpiece. In fact, I hope you know that the Priceless Beauty is already there – you are God’s treasure and you are being shined for the world to see. I hope you’ll know that the beauty that is emerging in you is a result of a God who wants us to be the best version of ourselves – the version we were created for and not the one that we often settle into. I hope you’ll be made aware that as you’re tossed, that your God is there with you – you may not feel it, but your Father is there giving you strength and inviting you to relish the process. May we all find some time this week where we can let the noise subside a bit and find a rest that comes from His deep quiet. Grace and Peace my friend, and know your rounded edges are God’s glory shining in you.
